Valencia vs Athletic Bilbao Prediction, 12/12/2020 La Liga Soccer Pick, Tips and Odds

by Guy Bruhn - 12/9/2020

Game: Valencia vs Athletic Bilbao

Date: Saturday, December 12, 2020

Location: Mestalla Stadium in Valencia, Spain

TV: Fanatiz USA

Odds/Point Spread: Valencia (+170) Athletic Bilbao (+187)

Maxi Gomez and Valencia (3-3-5, 16th in La Liga) play Athletic Bilbao (4-1-6, 12th in La Liga) at Mestalla Stadium on Saturday. The goalies protecting the net will be Jaume Domenech for Valencia and Unai Simon for Athletic Bilbao. The line on this contest has Valencia priced at +170 and the Lions are at +187. The total has been set at 2.25.

Valencia faced off with Atlético Madrid in their last match and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 1-0. Valencia attempted 16 dribbles in this matchup and successfully completed 8 of those attempts for a percentage of 50.0%. In the passing game, they ended with a 78.0% passes received rate by connecting on 263 out of their 337 pass attempts in their last outing. In terms of shooting accuracy, Valencia ended this match at a 40.0% rate by putting 2 SoT of 5 total shots. Valencia has an average of 1.45 g/90 (16 goals in total) and have accounted for 10 assists in all games for this campaign.

Maxi Gomez is a guy who can be a difference maker for Valencia. He has accounted for 11 assists while earning 32 yellow card warnings so far in his career. Gomez has had a starting assignment in 146 contests in his pro soccer career while scoring 0.50 goals per 90. The forward representing Uruguay has tallied 72 goals in 12,860 mins. One more guy who could decide who wins is Kevin Gameiro, the forward hailing from France. Gameiro has totaled 26,214 minutes in 285 starting assignments and has earned himself 9 yellow cards. He has helped on a goal 39 times so far in his career and he has scored 146 goals. He sports an average of 0.50 goals per 90 mins during his pro soccer career.

The man who will defend the goal for Valencia will be Jaume Domenech. Domenech (20-15-19 mark in his career) has tallied 15 clean sheets, which has earned him a 27.8% shutout percentage. The keeper hailing from Spain has faced 263 shots tried against him in 54 starts. His goals allowed per 90 mins is 1.24 (68 goals given up) and he is the owner of a save % of .753. Domenech has defended the goal for a total of 4,924 mins and has 198 saves in his career.

In their last game, Athletic Bilbao went home defeated by a final of 2-0 against Celta Vigo. They wrapped up this contest by completing 412 of the 514 passing tries for a percentage of 80.2%. Athletic Bilbao ended the game with a 85.7% successful dribble rate by converting 12 out of the 14 dribbles they attempted. Athletic Bilbao connected on 0 shots on target out of their 10 shots attempted when they last stepped onto the pitch. With 11 goals and 8 assists in all their matches, Athletic Bilbao has an average of 1.00 goal and 0.73 assists per 90 min.

Inaki Williams should be able to be counted on for Athletic Bilbao. The forward representing Spain has totaled 15,296 professional minutes and has scored 41 goals. He has earned 18 yellow card cautions during his pro soccer career and has helped a teammate on a goal 21 times. He currently averages 0.24 goals per 90 minutes and has had a starting assignment in 178 matches in his pro soccer career. Make sure to keep an eye out for Unai Lopez, the midfielder representing Spain. Lopez has been given 35 yellow card warnings in 11,278 mins played (132 starting assignments). His G/90 average in his pro soccer career is 0.08. He has collected 10 goals so far in his pro soccer career while helping a teammate on a goal 12 times.

Unai Simon will be looking after the net for Athletic Bilbao. Simon has racked up 14 clean sheets and has defended 157 shots attempted against him in 4,611 mins throughout his career. He has a save % of .713 and his clean sheet rate is 26.9%. He has conceded 1.05 goals per 90 mins and he has a mark of 18-14-20. Thus far in his career, Simon has given up 54 goals and has accounted for 112 saves in 52 starts.

Who will win tonight's La Liga game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Athletic Bilbao (+187)

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Valencia vs Athletic Bilbao Prediction, 12/12/2020 La Liga Soccer Pick, Tips and Odds

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